All You Need To Know About Disordered Eating Habits

A Quick Guide

In modern culture, dieting and an obsession with food is nothing new. But at what point does a preoccupation with food, calories, and weight turn into a health issue? How are disordered eating habits different from actual eating disorders? So, disordered eating refers to unusual eating patterns that can over time lead to eating disorders. How can you get help for it? In this article, we will be discussing all these questions.

What is Disordered Eating?

The term “disordered eating” is used to refer to a variety of unusual eating habits that might or might not be grounds for an eating disorder diagnosis. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two examples of eating disorders that are diagnosed using strict standards. The majority of those who struggle with disordered eating are excluded from this. Some examples of disordered eating habits are:

• Adopting rigid dietary regulations or habits
• Binge-eating
• By chopping food into tiny portions, eating more slowly, or in some other way, you might Deceive yourself into thinking that you need less food to be satisfied
• Deciding to consume only “clean” or nutritious foods
• Limiting or skipping meals on purpose, including missing meals either before or after consuming a large meal, unhealthy food, or alcohol
• Obsessively exercising
• Prior to or following a meal, feeling guilty, disgusted, or anxious
• Regularly weighing or measuring your body
• Tracking calories or food to the point of obsession
• Using compensatory activities to “make up” for the stuff you’ve eaten, like exercising
• Using fad diets to try to reduce weight
• Utilizing weight-controlling purging techniques, such as making oneself vomit or using laxatives
• Weight loss with fasting
• Without a medical cause, avoid entire food groupings, specific macronutrients, or other foods with particular textures or colors

Even though disordered eating isn’t considered an eating disorder in and of itself, those who adopt it have a significant risk of eventually developing Eating Disorders. Additionally, disordered eating is linked to long-term mental and physical health issues including psychological stress and worsening general health even when it doesn’t progress to a clinical Eating Disorder. Do You Get Anxiety After Eating Carbs? Here’s How To Manage

Types of Disordered Eating

Habits that are unhealthy and those that are strikingly similar to eating disorders can both be characterized as disordered eating. The utilization of cleanses might be a part of disordered eating practices. Other patterns can include: 

• Abusing laxatives
• Eating too little or fasting
• Eating when stressed
• Extreme workout
• Fad diets
• Overeating
• Social isolation
• Supplement abuse
• Using diet tablets

The adoption of self-induced compensatory actions after meals is another aspect of disordered eating. Self-induced vomiting may be involved, but it can also refer to other behaviors like intense exercise or the use of laxatives or diuretics. Such actions could be considered problematic if they happen occasionally, but an eating disorder would be present if they happen at least once per week for three months.

According to research, dieting may lead to disordered eating, which may then result in an eating disorder. One typical kind of disordered eating is emotional eating. People may turn to enjoyable things, like eating, to lift their mood and block out unpleasant thoughts when they are experiencing negative or difficult emotions. These eating habits can often start in early childhood and last far into adulthood. This could develop into a poor coping strategy that makes things worse. Emotions of remorse and shame can occasionally follow overeating.

Dieting & Disordered Eating Habits

Disordered eating is on a spectrum between healthy eating and eating disorders and may exhibit eating disorder signs and behaviors, however less frequently or to a lesser extent. Restrictive eating, compulsive eating, and irregular or rigid eating patterns are all examples of disordered eating. One of the most prevalent types of disordered eating is dieting. Fasting is another behavior that may be present in someone who is disordered in their eating along with:

• Abuse of laxatives, diuretics, and enema
• Avoiding a particular food or food category
• Binge eating
• Giving up meals
• Self-inflicted vomiting
• The use of diet pills
• Use of steroids and creatine

Why are disordered eating and dieting so dangerous?

Dieting in particular is one of the most prevalent risk factors for the emergence of an eating disorder. Disordered eating habits are also among the risk factors. The mental illness accompanying eating disorders is severe and potentially fatal. An eating disorder is not a choice. Limiting your food intake can be a very risky habit to get into. The metabolic rate (the rate at which the body uses energy) decreases when the body is starved of food, and this can lead to overeating and binge eating behaviors. Dieting is linked to anxiety and depression as well as other health issues.

Disordered eating has been associated with a decreased capacity to handle stressful events and can have a detrimental impact on a person’s life. People who indulge in disordered eating frequently experience feelings of guilt, shame, and failure. Binge eating or “breaking” a diet might result in these emotions. Due to their anxiety about interacting with others in settings where people will be eating, those who have disordered eating habits may isolate themselves. Low self-esteem and social isolation may result from this.

Dieting and the cycle of diets

One of the biggest predictors of the emergence of an eating disorder is dieting. Weight reduction and “fad” diets can make someone feel hungry, depressed, lack energy, and have poor mental and physical health since they don’t take into account each person’s unique needs. Many eating disorders can emerge and are perpetuated, according to the “diet cycle.”

Diet/restriction: Limiting the quantity or kind of food consumed.

Deprivation: The body reacts physically and mentally when food intake is limited. In an effort to preserve energy, the metabolism slows, the appetite rises, and the desire for the banned foods grows. Individuals may feel deprived, irritated, and worn out at this point.

Break diet restrictions: Diet regulations are nearly always broken, with the body seeking and needing limited foods. Often, overeating follows.

Feelings: When people break a diet restriction, they frequently experience remorse, low self-esteem, and negative body image. It’s possible for someone to believe they’ve failed and lack willpower.

Unhappy with one’s size or appearance: These emotions are accompanied by a commitment to “do better.” People are frequently persuaded to resume their diet or restriction, and the cycle of diets repeats.

How about fad diets?

Many fad diets promote eating habits that are seen as disordered, to the point where some experts argue that engaging in any weight-loss plan is an indication of disordered eating. A fad diet is a sudden shift in eating habits intended to make you lose weight. These diets frequently gain popularity fast and may be advertised in the media or advocated by influencers.

Fad diets frequently entail fasting, eliminating entire food groups without a valid medical reason, eating only one food, caloric restriction, or the use of non-food substances. The ketogenic (keto) diet, Whole30, the Atkins diet, the “Paleolithic” (paleo) diet, gluten-free diets, intermittent fasting, and cleanses are a few examples of well-known fad diets.

Also keep in mind that people with allergies may need to avoid specific foods or food groups, and that some diets, like the keto and gluten-free ones, are beneficial or even medically required for those with specific health conditions. However, the weight loss business has appropriated these methods and offers them as fast solutions for people without any health concerns that call for a particular diet to lose weight. Eating Disorders are correlated with following fad diets.

Eating Disorders vs. Disordered Eating

There are a few major differences between disordered eating & eating disorders. Disordered eating may or may not meet the diagnostic standards for an eating disorder. Additionally, they might not have the same extreme anxiety about gaining weight that is typical of eating disorders.

The severity & degree of the symptoms is the main distinction between disordered eating & eating disorders. Many of the same habits that are present in eating disorders are also present in disordered eating, however, they do so less frequently or to a lesser degree.

This does not imply that eating disorders are not serious issues. Eating disorders represent diagnosable disorders and are frequently easier to recognize. In many cases, disordered eating is more subtle, making it harder to identify and, occasionally, harder to treat. However, eating disorders can develop and start before disordered eating does.

Eating Disorders

• Extreme anxiety around calories
• Obsessive concerns about appearance and weight
• Obsessive food-related thoughts
• The impaired performance brought on by calorie counting, bingeing, purging, exercise, or other habits
• Weight changes that are significant

Disordered Eating

• Consuming only particular foods
• Cutting off the main food categories
• Eating for causes other than hunger or sustenance
• Eating in an effort to cope with stress or difficult feelings
• Restricting calories, bingeing, or purging occasionally or infrequently

What Causes Disordered Eating?

Numerous factors can lead to disordered eating. Due to their upbringing or disposition, some people are inclined to certain behaviors, while circumstances in their daily life make some people fall into unhealthy patterns. Just a handful of the causes of disordered eating are listed here.

Culture and society

In our culture, many disordered eating habits are accepted as normal. This is partially a result of the impact of the fast food and diet industries. We are flooded with information about how we need to eat and how our bodies ought to seem. Sometimes those signals are in direct conflict with one another, like when the diet industry instructs us to limit our eating while the food industry encourages us to indulge. Another major perpetrator is social media. Messages about eating well and exercising are posted by celebrities, influencers, and even our own friends. Furthermore, on social media, we are frequently exposed to idealized bodies, which could cause us to feel insecure about the way we look.

Life changes and stressors

Life’s stressful occurrences might lead to disordered eating as a coping mechanism. People may turn to food for solace if they have faced a job loss, the death of a loved one, financial hardship, relationship issues, or other stressors. Or they could design a strict diet. When other aspects of a person’s life are beyond their control, maintaining a rigid diet might help them feel in control.

Mental health conditions

Numerous individuals who battle disordered eating also battle mental health issues including depression, anxiety, or OCD. Symptoms of mental illness may encourage disordered eating habits or also worsen already-present ones. For instance, depression is connected to appetite loss and overeating, and anxiety can result in digestive problems.

Past trauma

Those who have gone through traumatic experiences are particularly prone to disordered eating. This includes bullying, rape, assault, domestic violence, and physical or sexual abuse. Disordered eating can help persons with a history of trauma dull their feelings, feel in control of their bodies, or also block out unpleasant memories.

Preventing and coping

You can make efforts to manage your habits and create a healthier relationship with food if you can identify the symptoms of disordered eating. Finding coping mechanisms may also assist in stopping the development of such habits into a full-blown eating disorder. You can do the following things:

Avoid Fad Diets

Fad diets frequently cause sensations of hunger and deprivation and are very restricted. This frequently results in cravings and binge eating, which causes failure and guilt feelings. Focus on eating moderately rather than adhering to fad diets, and stay away from categorizing foods as intrinsically “good” or “bad.”

Talk to yourself kindly

Disordered eating frequently occurs in conjunction with critical and negative self-talk. Focus on admiring your positive traits rather than berating yourself for your appearance or comparing your physique to others. Consider your body’s benefits to you and the things you enjoy about it. It might also be beneficial to develop a good relationship with your body, reflect on your best qualities, and use confidence-boosting affirmations.

Learn to be body neutral

Body neutrality is another strategy that can be useful for refocusing your attention. Body neutrality entails learning to accept your physical appearance and putting your attention on feeding, resting, and nourishing your body. And so learning to love your body can help you feel better about yourself and fight against disordered eating habits. Avoiding daily self-weighing, minimizing your exposure to false body ideals, and practicing gratitude are also helpful strategies.

Try eating mindfully

The practice of mindfulness entails putting all of one’s attention in the present. When used in regard to eating, it can assist you in avoiding mindless, distracted eating and instead encourage you to completely enjoy the food you consume as well as the experience of doing so. You can learn to be more in tune with your body and learn to recognize when you are hungry and full by practicing mindful or intuitive eating. Additionally, it can assist you in recognizing disordered eating habits, such as utilizing food as a coping mechanism for difficult emotions.

Getting Help for Disordered Eating Habits

There are numerous things you can take to address it if you’ve noticed some of these disordered eating habits in yourself or if you notice your relationship with food is changing. While some people can get back on track using self-help resources like workbooks and apps, others will need to speak with a dietitian, doctor, or mental health professional. 

We hope you found this article helpful in learning more about disordered eating habits.